Small Business Praises Prevailing Wage Repeal Bills
January 18, 2017 (Lansing) – The state’s leading small business organization, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), praised the introduction today of legislation to repeal the state’s Prevailing Wage Act. Republican lawmakers in the Senate today introduced Senate Bills 1,2 and 3 that would repeal the 1965 law that pegs construction projects using state dollars to union scale wages.
“Michigan’s antiquated prevailing wage law results in overcharging taxpayers on publicly funded construction projects by requiring that union scale wages be paid regardless of whether a contractor has non-union employees,” said NFIB State Director Charlie Owens. “Estimates of the additional cost to taxpayers range from 10 to 15 percent on a project”.
Owens said that Michigan has already made union favored “Project Labor Agreements” on public construction illegal. “Repealing Michigan’s Prevailing Wage Act is the next step in assuring fair and open competition on publicly funded construction projects,” said Owens. “The state’s current prevailing wage law acts as a ‘super minimum wage’ that sets wages much higher than local construction wages determined by fair competition in the free market”.
Owens also said that the law discourages small business contractors from bidding on public projects.
“Republican lawmakers deserve credit for stepping forward and addressing this labor union sacred cow that is cheating taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars every year,” said Owens.